The aristocrat, the 'killer' and their date from hell: Former Google worker tells court how woman he met on Tinder told him she had killed two men before he is cleared of threatening her with two knives

James Lumley-Savile, 39, was with Ida Pap in home in Fulham, London

He said she confessed to killing two people while high on ecstasy drug

He saw knife block behind her and thought 'I don't want to be number 3'

So he 'took the knives outside to protect himself'

Jury at Isleworth Crown Court found him not guilty of all three charges

Cleared: James Lumley-Savile, pictured outside court, was found not guilty after a five-day trial

An aristocrat told a court how a date turned sour when the girl he met on the internet revealed she had killed two people – including a previous boyfriend.

James Lumley-Savile, the great-great-grandson of the Eighth Earl of Scarborough, had taken Ida Pap to a farmer’s market after meeting her through the dating app Tinder, a few months earlier.

The pair had enjoyed a bottle of wine and then returned to his £800,000 home in Fulham, West London.

But the date deteriorated when the Hungarian suddenly revealed she had killed two people – leaving him fearing he could be next, the aristocrat claimed.

Mr Lumley-Savile, a former Google employee, said he had reached for two 10in knives in his kitchen to protect himself after she made the shocking claims and became ‘wild and snarling’. But the 39-year-old ended up being arrested and charged when a taxi driver spotted him with the blades outside his home.

He was accused of threatening Miss Pap and leaving witnesses fearing for her life. But after a five-day trial at Isleworth Crown Court, jurors cleared him of two counts of knife possession and one of affray.

Giving evidence, Mr Lumley-Savile, the son of a war hero, told of the bizarre sequence of events which had led to him appearing in the street with the knives.

The heir to the title Baron Savile had spent the day at a farmer’s market and had lunch in Putney before returning to his home.

The pair then drank wine and she took the drug MDMA, a pure form of ecstasy.

He told jurors that after taking the drug Miss Pap started saying some ‘heavy things’, including that she was the product of a rape.

And he said he was left fearing for his life when she said she had poisoned her cousin when she was 14 and also stabbed a former boyfriend in a ‘scuffle’, jurors heard.

Recalling the incident in May this year, he said: ‘We were in the kitchen, I was thinking “I do not know who this woman is any more, but she is wild and snarling”.

‘I looked behind her and saw the block of kitchen knives. I got a very bad feeling about the situation. She had told me she had killed two people and I thought: “I do not want to be number three.”

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He said he persuaded Miss Pap to go with him to his brother’s house, adding: ‘I just thought I have got to keep this woman away from here. I was just trying to work out what to do. I had a very bad feeling.

‘I did not want anything to happen to me or her. I wanted this situation to get resolved as nicely as possible.’

Self-defence: Mr Lumley-Savile claimed his girlfriend told him she had killed two people and he thought 'I do not want to be number three' - so he 'subtly' took the block containing his kitchen knives and moved it

He added: ‘Each time I mentioned the police she recoiled. I felt we were in a stalemate and I thought “I am not going to bed with you and those knives in the house”.

‘Then she grabbed her phone and used the Uber app to call a taxi. I have never experienced anything like that before in my life.’

The taxi driver, Qamar Walayat, had told the court he dialled 999 when he arrived to pick up Miss Pap and he thought Mr Lumley-Savile was going to attack her.

The aristocrat, dressed in a black suit and striped tie, showed no emotion when the not guilty verdicts were announced. A drugs charge was dropped after he accepted a fixed penalty notice.

Mr Lumley-Savile is an identical triplet – a rarity that occurs only once in every eight million births. One brother gave evidence in support.

Their father, the Hon Henry Leoline Thornhill Lumley-Savile, was injured in the battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.

Last week the Mail reported how the controversial Tinder phone app has become increasingly popular with single middle-aged people.

Evidence: Uber taxi driver Qamar Walayat (left) said he saw the 39-year-old (right) brandishing the knives and his girlfriend appeared 'scared', adding: 'I thought he was going to kill her straight away'

Deliberations: There were audible sighs of relief from supporters at Isleworth Crown Court, pictured